Flag football belt and flags

ABSTRACT

A flag football belt assembly includes a belt having two or more fasteners. A flag assembly includes a flag clip having a first arm joined to a second arm an acute angle, a fitting on the first arm and a flag strip attached to the second arm. The fitting is engageable to the fastener to attach the flag assembly onto the belt, and the fitting is releasable from the fastener by pulling on the flag strip. The first arm may be joined to the second arm at a flex joint and/or the flag clip may be made of a flexible material. The flag clip having the first and second arms at an acute angle holds the flag strip away from the player&#39;s body to allow the flag strip to be more easily and reliably grabbed during play.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Flag football is a game similar to American football. Players advancethe ball downfield towards the goal via running or passing plays. Allplayers wear a belt having two or more flags. Defenders stop the playercarrying the ball by pulling a flag off of the ball carrier's belt. Theflags typically are ribbons or strips of fabric or plastic. For fairplay, the flags must be easily grabbed by defenders. If the flags areout of position on the belt, or if the flags are slack against theplayers clothing, folded or bunched up, the offensive player may obtainan unfair advantage because the flags are more difficult to grasp.Improved flags and flag belts are needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A flag football belt assembly includes a belt having two or morefasteners. A flag assembly includes a flag clip having a first armjoined to a second arm at an acute angle, a fitting on the first arm anda flag strip attached to the second arm. The fitting is engageable withthe fastener to attach the flag assembly onto the belt, and the fittingis releasable by pulling on the flag strip. The first arm may be joinedto the second arm at a flex joint and/or the flag clip may be made of aflexible material. The second arm may be at least twice as long as thefirst arm. The flag clip having the first and second arms at an acuteangle holds the flag strip away from the player's body to allow the flagstrip to be more easily and reliably grabbed during play.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings the same element number indicates the same element ineach of the views.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a flag football belt assembly laid out flat.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the flag football belt assembly shown inFIG. 1 with longer flag strips provided.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the flag football beltassembly shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an end view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the flag clip shown in FIGS. 1-4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a flag football belt assembly 10 includes a belt12 made of flexible webbing material, such as woven Nylon, canvas,leather, etc. The belt 12 is designed so that it can adjust to the waistsize of the user, as with a conventional dress belt. Any type of beltbuckling device may be used for this purpose. In the example shown inthe drawings, a buckle socket 18 is attached at one end of the belt 12via a stitched-in belt loop 16. A complimentary buckle plug 20 isattached onto the other end of the belt 12, either using a belt loop anda sliding belt length adjuster 22, or via threading the belt end throughtensioning slots in the buckle plug 20. Fittings such as snap buttons 28are attached to the belt 12, optionally in two spaced apart clusters ofthree.

Referring now also to FIGS. 4 and 5, a flag assembly 32 includes a flagstrip 34 attached to a flag clip 40. The flag clip 40 has a first leg 44joined to a second leg 46 at an acute angle AA typically ranging from25-65 or 35-55 degrees. The flag clip 40 may be made of a flexiblematerial, such as soft plastic having a thickness WW of 0.5 to 3 or 4mm. In this design, the resilience of the material allows the second leg46 to bend relative to the first leg 44. Alternatively, the legs may bejoined via a flex joint, such as a living hinge having a materialthickness less than the legs. A flag strip 34 is permanently attached tothe outer or lower end of the flag clip 40, optionally by looping theflag strip 34 through a slot 48. The flag strip 34 may be a fabric orplastic material. The upper end of the flag clip 40 may be angled orrounded. A snap ring 42 is provided on the first leg 44, with the snapring 42 adapted to provide a snap fit with the snap button 28.

The user puts on the belt assembly 10 similar to a conventional belt.The belt length is adjusted either via the adjuster 22, if provided, orby pulling the belt through the tensioning slots in the buckle plug 20.With the belt buckle facing front, one or more snap buttons 28 arepositioned at the user's left and right sides. The user presses the snapring 42 of a flag assembly 32 onto or into one of the snap buttons 28 onthe belt, to attach the flag assembly 32 onto the belt 12. Of course,the positions of the snap buttons and snap rings may be reversed, andother similar attaching devices may be used. These may include springfinger, spanner, latching and other devices providing nominal holdingforce while releasable by pulling at different directions.

Referring to FIG. 4, with the flag assembly 32 attached to the belt 14,the first leg 44 is substantially parallel (within +/−5 degrees) to thebelt. The inside surface of the flag clip 40 may also be flush or nearlyflush against the belt 14. The flag strip 34 is held out laterally awayfrom the belt 14 due to the acute angle AA between the first and secondlegs, and the length of the second leg 46. Correspondingly, the flagstrip 34 is held out away from the users body or clothing. As a result,the flag strip 34 is easier to grab, as generally there is space betweenthe users clothing and the flag strip 34. When a defender grabs the flagstrip 34, the flag assembly 32 is easily pulled off of the belt 14 asthe snap ring 42 separates or disengages from the snap button 28 with aslight tug. The flag football game may be played based more on playersabilities because the flag strips are more consistently positioned.

With certain snap fittings 28 and 42, the angle AA of the flag clip 40may allow the two fitting components to separate more consistently, orwith reduced force, because pulling on the flag strip 34 applies forceson the snap fitting differently from designs where the flag strip isco-planer with the snap fitting.

Thus, novel flag football belts and flag assemblies have been shown anddescribed. Various changes and modifications may of course be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Theinvention, therefore, should not be limited, except by the followingclaims and their equivalents.

1. A flag football belt assembly, comprising: a belt; a fastener on thebelt; a flag assembly including a flag clip having a first arm joined toa second arm at acute angle, a fitting on the first arm and a flag stripattached to the second arm, with the fitting attachable to fastener, andwith the fitting releasable from the fastener by pulling on the flagstrip.
 2. The flag football belt assembly of claim 1 wherein the firstarm is joined to the second arm at a flex joint.
 3. The flag footballbelt assembly of claim 1 wherein the flag clip comprises a resilientflexible material.
 4. The flag football belt assembly of claim 1 whereinthe second arm is at least twice as long as the first arm.
 5. The flagfootball belt assembly of claim 1 wherein the fastener and the fittingcomprise a snap-on fitting attaching the flag assembly to the belt. 6.The flag football belt assembly of claim 1 wherein the acute angle is 15to 60 degrees.
 7. The flag football belt assembly of claim 2 wherein thebelt comprises a strip of flexible material having upper and loweredges, and with the flex joint substantially aligned with the lower edgeof the belt.
 8. The flag football belt assembly of claim 1 wherein theflag strip having an upper end spaced apart laterally from the belt byat least 2 cm.
 9. A flag football belt assembly, comprising: a belthaving first and second ends; first and second quick release fittings atthe first and second ends of the belt, respectively; a plurality offirst snap fittings on the belt; at least one flag assembly including aflag clip comprising having a first arm joined to a second arm an acuteangle via a flex joint, with second arm at least twice as long as thefirst arm, a second snap fitting on the first arm and a flag stripattached to the second arm, with the second snap fitting attachable toone of the first snap fittings by pressing them together to attach theflag assembly to the belt, and with the flag assembly releasable fromthe belt by pulling on the flag strip to cause the second snap fittingto separate from the first snap fitting.
 10. The flag football beltassembly of claim 9 with the plurality of first snap fittings arrangedin groups of two or more spaced apart along a longitudinal centerline ofthe belt.
 11. The flag football belt assembly of claim 9 wherein theflex joint comprises a flexible material joining the first arm to thesecond arm.
 12. The flag football belt assembly of claim 11 wherein theentire flag clip comprises a flexible material.
 13. A flag assemblycomprising: a flag clip comprising having a first arm joined to a secondarm an acute angle via a flex joint, with the second arm at least twiceas long as the first arm, a snap fitting on the first arm and a flagstrip attached to the second arm.